Posted on: Friday, February 11, 2005

Death of whale found off Kalaeloa a mystery

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

A baby humpback whale that washed up near Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor on Tuesday lost a pectoral fin in a clean cut consistent with a shark bite, but scientists who examined the calf said yesterday they still don't know how it died.

There were no internal abnormalities, propeller marks or any other signs of a boat strike on the 11-foot whale, estimated to have been only a week old, at most, marine officials said.

A necropsy was conducted Wednesday night by volunteers with the Hawaiian Islands Stranding Response Group.

Marlee Breese, a University of Hawai'i researcher and volunteer with the stranding response group, said numerous cuts and bruises on the carcass could have been caused by its rolling back and forth over the sharp coral reef.

Breese said the necropsy didn't reveal any obvious sign of what caused the death of the calf, which weighed an estimated 750 to 1,000 pounds.

Blood tissues and DNA samples will be sent to a lab for further analysis, said Wende Goo of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A 2001 study found that about one in five humpback calves die each year in the North Pacific population that migrates between Hawai'i and Alaska waters. A 2002 study found that up to one-third of all whale carcasses show signs of being struck by ships.

Meanwhile, there was a report of an entangled whale off O'ahu's North Shore on Tuesday, but when officials went to investigate, the animal could not be found, said David Matilla, science and rescue coordinator of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.